The Bard rocks in 'Last Goodbye'

Jay Armstrong Johnson, who plays Romeo, rehearses with the cast of "The Last Goodbye," a new musical fusing Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" with the songs of the late rock icon Jeff Buckley.
— Jim Cox

Jay Armstrong Johnson, who plays Romeo, rehearses with the cast of "The Last Goodbye," a new musical fusing Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" with the songs of the late rock icon Jeff Buckley.
/ Jim Cox

But it’s the pain in Buckley’s music and the desperation of the “star-cross’d lovers” in Shakespeare’s play that the creators hope will find dialogue with each other.

“What I think is amazing is that a lot of people came to (Buckley’s) work in what was an emotionally tumultuous time for them,” says Kimmel. “And through Jeff they sort of found a voice that echoed what they were feeling.

“People have such an emotional attachment to his music — such a personal attachment. It is that idea of being a teenager and being in love.

I always call it ‘screaming into the abyss,’ where it feels like it never ends.

“And I think that’s something Jeff captured musically that very few people have ever really done as well.”